Coffin-fastener



' C. E. TEMPLE.

GOPFIN PASTENBR.

No. 401,767. Patented Apr. 28, 1889.

UNrrED STATES d PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. TEMPLE, OF TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA.

COFFlN-FASTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 401,767, dated April 23, 1889.

Application filed January 15J 1889.

T0 all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. TEMPLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Terre Haute, in the county of Vigo, State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fasteners for Gaskets, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has relation to fasteners for the lids of coflins and caskets; and among the objects in view are to obvia-te the employment of screws and other fastening devices which require time to insert, and provide a cheap and simple means that are instantaneous in their action and perfectly noiseless, and which will constitute a safe and secure fastening.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of a casket with the lid remove-d, and Fig. 2 is a bottom plan of the lid, the casket and cover being provided with fastening devices constructed in accordance with my invention. Figs. 3 and i are enlarged details in section of the foot and head fastenings, the lid being in position and fastened. Figs. 5 and 6 are details in plan, showin g the foot and head fastenings enlarged. Figs. 7 and S are details in plan of one of the sides of the casket, showing the sockets that co-operate with the fastenin gs. Fig. 9 is a slightlyanodiiied construction of the socket for the head-fastening. Fig. 10 is a detail in side elevation of the side of the casket, illustratin gin side elevation the socket for the head-fastening.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 represents a casket, 2 the side walls, and 3 the lid or cover, these parts being' of any Well-known construction.

In the side walls, 2, and near the foot and head of the casket, and in the upper edge of said walls, there are formed inclined tapered openings or sockets 4, the disposition of the sockets being toward the foot of the casket and the mouth of the sockets being slightly elongated, as at 5. In the upper edge of the side walls, near the head, are formed transn Serial No. 296,422. (No model.)

9, though such is not essential to the opera- A tion of my invention.

Upon the under surface of the lid 3, at each side thereof and near its outer edge, and at such points upon the lid that would be directly in a vertical line with the openings 4 in the side walls of the casket when the lid is in position, there is secured a metallic tenon or horn-shaped lug, 10, the lug being secured to the lid by means of a securing or base plate, 11, through which screws 12 are passed, and from which the lug extends. The lug 10 is of a shape corresponding with the inclined socket 4, that is slightly curved and tapered, and is preferably of a size in crosssection to snugly t Within the socket.

13 represents hooks7 one of the ends of which is formed with eyes 14, through which screws 15 are passed, by which the same are pivotally secured to the under surface of the lid at each side thereof and at such a point that the opposite hooked ends 16 will be coincident with the transverse recesses 6, formed in the upper edges of the side Walls of the casket when the lid is in position thereon. The hooked ends of the hooks are slightly tapered, and their inner edges are undercut, as at 17, (see Figs. 4 and 6,) and are provided at their rear end with a thumb-receiving lug, 18.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The lid is placed upon the casket so that the ends of the hornshaped lugs 10 are in the grooves or enlarged mouths 5 of the inclined sockets 4, and is slid along until the lugs enter the sockets. Then in this position, the

hooks 13 will register with the transverse recesses 6, and it only remains to force the hooks inwardly so as to enter said recesses. It is desirous in such a mode of fastening to force the lid as much as possible toward the foot, so that the horn-shaped lug will take deep into the socket 4. For this reason the IOO construction of the recess 6 is such as to permit the hook 16 to partly enter the same before its inner edge comes in contact with the inner wall of the recess, and when it does reach about the center it comes in contact first with the straight half of said wall, which tends to force the lid toward the foot of the casket, and also force the horn-shaped lug into the socket. It is desirable that the end of the lug be very slightly larger than the socket, so as to it very snugly therein. When this point of fastening has been reached, the enlarged rear end of the hook end 16 reaches and comes in contact with the undercut portion 7 of the recess, and this contact and further inward passage of the hook tend to draw the lid snugly down upon the side walls of the casket. I therefore provide a device that iirst imparts a forcing motion to the lid and then a downwardly-drawing motion ,which forms a tight joint between the casket and its lid.

It is also apparent that by reason of the peculiar construction of the inner edge of the hook and the inner wall of the recess the hook will take into or crowd the wood of which the casket is composed, and thus form a binding contact.

In Fig. 9 I illustrate a slight modification, the modification consisting` in lining the recess with a soft metallic bushing, the metal being of a character as to permit of the binding or crowding, as before described. The binding contact, the under-cut, and the staple or bar 8 all aid in preventing any accidental displacement or withdrawal of the lid. In placing the lid in position upon the casket the same is materially guided by the projecting guide-pins 19, placed opposite the hooks 13, and designed to take upon the inner surface of the side walls of the casket.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1.I A coffin or casket provided near one end in each of its sides with a socket and at the opposite end with a transverse recess, one of the walls of which is undercut, in combination with a lid provided near one end with opposite lugs adapted to enter the sockets and at its opposite end with a pivoted hook adapted to take in the recesses and bind against one of the walls thereof, substantially as specified.

2. A cotiin or casket provided near one end at each of its sides with inclined sockets and at the opposite endwith a transverse recess, one of the walls of which is undercut for a p0rtion of its length, incombination with a lid having horn-shaped lugs adapted to enter the sockets and having pivoted hooks adapted to enter the recesses, the hooks being formed on a taper and undercut at its inner edge, whereby a forcing and drawing action takes place when the hooks enter the recesses, substantially as specified.

3. The casket 1, having the walls 2, formedl with the sockets 4, having grooves 5, and the opposite recesses 6, provided with transverse bars S and undercut, as at 7, in combination with the lid 3, having the lugs 10, secured thereto by means of the perforated plates 11 and adapted to enter the sockets, and having the hooks 13, provided with the eye 14: and secured to the lid by the screw 15, and having the hook end 16, tapered and undercut as at 17, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES E. TEMPLE. Witnesses:

S. E. COTTON, R. J. SPARKS. 

